Public health emergency

The centre is expected to help the health sector coordinate and cope with emergency health incidents, including dangerous or emerging diseases that have affected health and social welfare of people in the southern region. In the context of globalisation, diseases like SARS, avian influenza, Ebola and Zika are threats to Vietnam and challenges to the globe as they can spread quickly across countries. Given this, the Vietnamese Health Ministry has joined the Global Health Security Partnership which is implemented by the US Government, international organisations and other countries. Vietnam has committed to actively applying the model of the Public Health Emergency Operations Centre in response to diseases and health incidents in the country. With the support of the US Government, the Vietnam Emergency Operations Centre was put into operation in May 2013 at the headquarters of the Health Ministry. The Northern Public Health Emergency Operations Centre was activated at the National … [Read more...] about Public health emergency operations centre inaugurated in HCM City

GENEVA: The World Health Organisation said on Tuesday (Mar 29) that the Ebola outbreak in West Africa no longer constitutes an international emergency, voicing confidence that remaining isolated cases in the affected countries can be contained."The Ebola outbreak in West Africa no longer constitutes a public health emergency of international concern," WHO chief Margaret Chan told journalists, officially ending the emergency first declared in August 2014.The deadliest-ever outbreak of the tropical disease emerged in December 2013 and has killed more than 11,300 people, mostly in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.The UN's public health agency faced searing criticism over its initial response to Ebola's spread, including accusations that it took far too long to publicise the threat level.Such criticism forced the WHO in May last year to launch a sweeping shake-up of its emergency response systems and saw the organisation quickly sound a global alarm this year in response to the rapid … [Read more...] about Ebola international health emergency is over: WHO

GENEVA: The World Health Organisation on Monday (Feb 1) said a surge in serious birth defects in South America was "strongly suspected" of being caused by the Zika virus and constituted an international health emergency.The UN health body said that a surge in cases of microcephaly - a devastating condition in which a baby is born with an abnormally small head and brain - was likely caused by the mosquito-borne Zika virus and declared the situation a "public health emergency of international concern."The WHO is under pressure to move swiftly to tackle Zika, after admitting it was slow to respond to the recent Ebola outbreak that ravaged parts of west Africa.WHO chief Margaret Chan said a meeting of global health experts who make up the agency's emergency committee had agreed "a causal relationship between the Zika infection during pregnancy and microcephaly is strongly suspected, though not scientifically proven.""The clusters of microcephaly and other neurological complications … [Read more...] about WHO declares international health emergency over Zika

The World Health Organization on Friday announced that the Zika virus outbreak, linked to deformations in babies' heads and brains, no longer poses a world public health emergency, though it warned the epidemic remains a challenge. Brazil, the epicentre of the outbreak, has however refused to downgrade the risk, while experts swiftly lashed out against the world health body's decision. "The Zika virus remains a highly significant and long term problem, but it is not any more a public health emergency of international concern," the world health body's emergency committee chair Dr. David Heymann said. While Zika causes only mild symptoms in most people, pregnant women with the virus risk giving birth to babies with microcephaly -- a deformation that leads to abnormally small brains and heads. It can also cause rare adult-onset neurological problems such as Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS), which can result in paralysis and even death. In the outbreak that began in mid-2015, more than 1.5 … [Read more...] about Zika no longer a world public health emergency: WHO

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung speaks at the event (Source: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – The health sector has made great strides in protecting public health, contributing to the country’s socio-economic development, said Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung at the Health Ministry’s teleconference on January 15. For 2016-2020 tasks, PM Dung asked the sector to improve preventive and primary health care to ensure everyone has access to quality medical services, as well as taking initiative in preventing diseases from entering Vietnam and intensifying supervisions in order to early detect any arising diseases. It is necessary to ensure food safety and increase the quality of communal medical clinics, he said, adding that provinces also need to develop the family doctor model to meet locals’ primary health care demands. The Government leader also urged hospitals to boost coordination and develop satellite hospital networks to reduce overloads. He emphasised the need to equip … [Read more...] about PM: Health sector makes strides in public health care

Public health at stakeSon Nguyen All and every people in HCMC may have eaten poisonous meat due to huge flaws in the food safety control system. This presumption is ascertained after police and inspectors last week busted a large-scale ring where thousands of pigs were found to be injected with sedative drugs, sending waves of panic among millions of consumers in the city. As the scandal unfolds, it can be seen greed by traders coupled with neglect of responsibility, if not conspiracy, on the part of State veterinary officers, has been the root cause of such a food scare. Administrative fines have been slapped on the culprits for apparently criminal offenses. As widely covered in local media, having been tipped off by some people for over a month, inspectors from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in collaboration with police last Thursday broke into Xuyen A Slaughterhouse in the outlying district of Cu Chi, and caught red-handed workers injecting a sedative drug named … [Read more...] about Public health at stake

US health authorities on Friday declared a public health emergency in Puerto Rico due to the outbreak of Zika, which has now infected more than 10,000 people. Zika is a mosquito-borne virus that can cause birth defects Zika is a mosquito-borne virus that can cause birth defects and is particularly dangerous for pregnant women. A total of 1,035 pregnant women are among the 10,690 people who have been infected in the US territory of Puerto Rico in the past seven months, the island's health authorities said. More than 1,900 cases of Zika were identified in the last week alone. US Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell declared "a public health emergency of national significance exists within the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico relating to pregnant women and children born to pregnant women with Zika." Burwell said in a statement that the declaration would allow the United States to "provide additional support to the Puerto Rican government," but did not give … [Read more...] about US declares Zika public health emergency in Puerto Rico

Illustration photo The Minister made the affirmation on July 7 at a meeting between ASEAN and three partners, Japan, the Republic of Korea and China, in Thailand.Minister Tien said that Vietnam plans to reform its grassroots level healthcare system and clinics and accelerate programmes to prevent the spread of epidemics and diseases such as heart attacks, cancer and hypertension.At the meeting, ASEAN and the three partners agreed to promote better public health for more than two billion people in the region. They said that public health campaigns play an important role in poverty reduction and create the best conditions for all the people to access essential medical services.They agreed to set up an ASEAN + 3 public health network and build an effective healthcare management system for the programme.ASEAN and their partners will also strengthen cooperation in preventing and controlling infectious diseases, create mechanisms to cope with emergencies, … [Read more...] about VN to popularize public health by 2020

Non-communicable conditions such as diabetes, hypertension and injuriescaused by traffic accidents account for 70% of health problems inVietnam. The rate was revealed by Nguyen Cong Khan, Director of Science,Technology and Training Department under the Ministry of Health, at aninternational public health conference in Danang City on November 13. In previous years, infectious diseases were the major problem, butnon-communicable conditions have been increasing in modern society,"Khan told the attendees, warning that infectious diseases continue to bea threat. The three-day event, organised by the Epidemiology and Public HealthInterventions Network (Tephinet), drew 350 scientists and others workingin the public health sector from 16 countries and territories inSoutheast Asia and the Asia-Pacific region besides Vietnam. Vietnam has emerged as a hot spot for infectious emergences andtrans-boundary diseases that … [Read more...] about Conference looks at public health sector